Binance — $968,618,825 OFAC penalty
OFAC published a $968,618,825 civil penalty against Binance on 11/21/2023. It is the #1 largest action in OFAC’s 1,052-entry enforcement chart and #1 of the 16 actions published that year.
What OFAC said
Release: NOVEMBER 21, 2023 OFAC Settles with Binance Holdings, Ltd. for $968,618,825 Related to Apparent Violations of Multiple Sanctions Programs Binance Holdings, Ltd. ("Binance"), a Cayman Islands virtual currency exchange with affiliates around the world, has agreed to pay $968,618,825 to settle its potential civil liability for 1,667,153 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Quoted verbatim from OFAC’s enforcement release — read the original.
The record
| Entity, as published by OFAC | Binance |
|---|---|
| Penalty / settlement amount | $968,618,825 |
| Date published by OFAC | 11/21/2023 |
| Aggregate penalties, settlements or findings | 1 |
| Rank among all published OFAC actions | #1 of 1,052 |
| Rank within 2023 | #1 of 16 |
| Share of 2023 penalty total | 62.8% |
| Apparent violations cited | 1,667,153 |
| Voluntarily self-disclosed | No |
| OFAC egregiousness determination | Egregious |
| Conduct period cited | August 2017 - October 2022 |
| Sanctions programs named in the release | Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea |
Primary source
OFAC enforcement release: 20231121_binance.pdf. This page adds no facts beyond that document and OFAC’s published penalty chart.
Comparable 2023 actions
- British American Tobacco p.l.c. — $508,612,492
- Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. — $30,000,000
- 3M Company — $9,618,477
- Poloniex, LLC — $7,591,630
- Nasdaq, Inc. — $4,040,923
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